BISMARCK – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, issued the following statement on the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) proposed onshore oil leasing rule which will hike up the bonding requirements and fees for oil and gas companies, raise royalty rates, and tighten permitting regulations on federal lands.
“The Biden administration’s backwards, twisted policy only makes sense to their radical environmentalist base who have no concern for middle-class Americans who must bear the costs of these fantasies. They say this will “increase taxpayer returns,” when in reality, it robs taxpayers from an important revenue stream and jobs. The real goal of the radical Left is to regulate and tax the energy sector out of business, which will hurt the very people Democrats say they care about, while driving energy investment to polluting countries who have little concern for the environment or their people. This policy is good for Russia, Venezuela, and Saudi Arabia, but bad for the United States and the global environment. I will do everything I can to stop it.”
In March, U.S. District Judge Daniel Traynor ordered the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to resume quarterly oil and gas lease sales in North Dakota.